FCT Minister Inspects 300 Bed Facility For Coronavirus Patients

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mohammed Musa Bello has inspected a five storey building which would serve as an isolation and treatment facility for Coronavirus (COVID – 19) cases.

The building, with 300 bed spaces, is located at the Idu area of the city.

The minister said the building would be modified to suit the purposes of a treatment and isolation centre as required by health authorities.

Bello, who was in company of senior officials of the FCTA, noted that the building could be ideal as an isolation and treatment facility.

A statement issued by the Chief Press of the FCTA, Anthony Ogunleye quotes the minister as saying:

“The most critical thing is that this place has a lot of space. We are talking of five floors. I don’t think the whole of Abuja will have a hospital facility that can accommodate up to five floors. More importantly, there is power here constantly, and there is adequate water supply.”

He however said that the relevant health authorities would further inspect the facility to determine its suitability.

He said: “I leave it now for the officials of the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and of course our public health officials. Jointly, they will decide what needs to be done here and we have a lot of commitment from the private sector organizations who are willing to support the national efforts to fight this disease. Once they all agree, I’m sure that within a very short period of time, this place can be made functional”

Reacting, the Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretariat, Muhammed Kawu said the building was very adequate and could be converted into a 300 bed facility.

The Director of Public Health, Josephine Okechukwu said the structure was ideal and would serve the purpose of a treatment center.  

She said “this is a perfect place that we have been looking for and it’s quite good. It’s a new structure with so many available rooms that we can fix up for now as a holding centre or a treatment centre if need be.

Bello had on Tuesday during a press briefing, said the FCT was preparing multiple isolation and treatment centres, in a bid to better manage cases of the virus in the city.